a lot has been made about the victories in new jersey and virginia. we had victories in new jersey and beijing for the republicans in 1993 -- in new jersey and virginia for the republicans in 1993. kay bailey hutchison -- we tend to forget some years later that was really attention-getting, a seat that had been in democratic hands for some time. we have totally forgotten this, but it was very significant, the victory of ronald lewis in kentucky of a seat that had been in democratic hands since reconstruction. a fairly obscure republican candidate won it, which led bill clinton, according to george stephanopoulos, to say, "it's nazi time out there." clinton was not as tolerant of dissent in private as he was in public. what other parallels do we have? lots. in 1994, you had an unpopular president. at this point, barack obama is doing slightly better than bill clinton was in early september of 1994. not by much. the trajectory, very broadly considered, is similar, starting off pretty high and going down. congressional approval is somewhere in the vicini